Výskumný ústav potravinársky

Dimitrov, F. – Panghyová, E. – Žubor, V. – Vargová, V. – Baxa, S. – Polovka, M. – Kopuncová, M. – Tobolková, B. – Hrouzková, S. – Sádecká, J.
Composition of terpenes as the dominant part of juniper berry essential oils


Filip Dimitrov, Food Research Institute, National Agricultural and Food Centre, Priemyselná 4, P. O. Box 31, SK-82475 Bratislava 25, Slovakia; Institute of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Radlinského 9, SK-81237 Bratislava, Slovakia. E-mail: filip.dimitrov@nppc.sk

Original article
Received 19 July 2023; 1st revised 14 September 2023; accepted 29 September 2023; published online 30 January 2024.

Súhrn: The genus Juniperus contains plants that are primarily used in the food industry for distillate production, with notable examples being gin and a specific Slovak traditional spirit borovička. During the production process of borovička, traditionally manufactured from the berries of Juniperus communis L., or nowadays from Juniperus oxycedrus L., juniper berry essential oil is produced as a by-product. It is subsequently used for further applications in food industry and for certain pharmaceutical purposes. Gas chromatographic methods were involved in analysis and evaluation of commercially produced juniper berry essential oils together with oils obtained in laboratory. Generally, juniper berry essential oil is comprised primarily of monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes and their oxidized derivatives. In our study, depending on the juniper species, berry essential oils were dominantly represented by alpha-pinene (23.5–36.0 %), myrcene (11.8–18.9 %), limonene (1.1–13.5 %), terpinen-4-ol (0.5–6.2 %), beta-caryophyllene (3.4–5.3 %), alpha-humulene (1.8–4.2 %) and germacrene D (1.0–9.7 %). This work is an introductory study focusing on qualitative and quantitative differences between the terpenic profiles of juniper berry essential oils gained from J. communis and J. oxycedrus in laboratory, and juniper essential oils gained as a by-product from borovička production.

Kľúčové slová: juniper berry; essential oil; terpene; gas chromatography; distillate

Na stiahnutie:
  jfnr-2024-1-pp029-036-dimitrov.pdf (PDF, 357.31 Kb, 237x)